Experimental investigation of creep behavior of reactor vessel lower head
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- NRC, Washington, DC (United States)
The objective of the USNRC supported Lower Head Failure (LHF) Experiment Program at Sandia National Laboratories is to experimentally investigate and characterize the failure of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) lower head due to the thermal and pressure loads of a severe accident. The experimental program is complemented by a modeling program focused on the development of a constitutive formulation for use in standard finite element structure mechanics codes. The problem is of importance because: lower head failure defines the initial conditions of all ex-vessel events; the inability of state-of-the-art models to simulate the result of the TMI-II accident (Stickler, et al. 1993); and TMI-II results suggest the possibility of in-vessel cooling, and creep deformation may be a precursor to water ingression leading to in-vessel cooling.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 645478
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-98-0580C; CONF-980341-; ON: DE98004098; TRN: 98:009936
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: OECD workshop on in-vessel core debris and coolability, Garching (Germany), 3-6 Mar 1998; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A preliminary assessment of the effects of heat flux distribution and penetration on the creep rupture of a reactor vessel lower head
Reactor vessel lower head integrity